Not So Bad
by Candaru
Summary: Abby does not want to go to the boring adult party with her mom. Nor does she want to meet the Reynolds' son. But here she is anyway. (Oneshot, friendship fluff about Lil' Nelson and the girl from the S5 opener. Rated T for safety.)


(A/N: Inspired by an appreciation thread on tumblr for tiny LEGO people and especially by httydbooks-doodler, who suggested Lil' Nelson and the girl from Winds of Change being ninja together! This isn't my greatest fic but it's cute and fluffy so hope u enjoy :P httydbooks-doodler has also agreed to draw a cover for this fic so stick around for that! X3 :D)

(BTW this starts out with the mom's POV for like no apparent reason, then switches over to the girl's POV after the break. I was gonna do like... Nelson's POV and then his dad's or something but I got tired ok)

* * *

"But Mom, it's a boring _adult_ party!"

In the back of a green van, a little girl with her hair braided back stared out the window at the dusk sky. Her hands fidgeted with the dulled pink fabric of her dress.

"I already told you, sweetie, Daddy's working and I couldn't find a babysitter for tonight," a weary woman in the front seat sighed.

"Why can't I take care of myself?" her daughter protested.

"Because there have been rumors of attacks lately and whenever there are rumors, there _are_ attacks. I can't risk you getting hurt." The car suddenly jerked to the right as a siren's blare rang out, an ambulance whizzing by. "Besides, the Reynolds have a son about your age. You can play in his room and I'll call you when it's time for cake."

"Ew." The girl wrinkled her nose, scrunching up her face. "Boys are gross."

"What about the ninja?" her mom asked in a teasing voice.

"They're different! They're heroes who save the world and fight bad guys! Boys just fight with each other. And sometimes me." She crossed her arms. "Besides, Nya is the best ninja, and she's a girl."

"I thought Kai was your favorite," her mom commented nonchalantly, secretly glad for the opportunity to change the subject. When Abby got going about the ninja, she'd forget whatever she was complaining about.

"Nope. Kai _was_ my favorite, but then Nya became a ninja, so now it's her. She's even better than her brother! She could beat him in a fight, no problem." She grinned, pushing her freckles higher on her face. Her mother stole a glance backward, wondering how she'd grown up so fast. In a few more years she probably _would_ be able to take care of herself without a babysitter.

"Well, I don't think Kai would be very happy to hear that."

Abby giggled. "Probably not."

The van slowed down as it pulled into a residential area and started scanning for the Reynolds house. Abby's rambling grew quieter as she evidently remembered where she was going. Her mom admittedly felt slightly bad for dragging her along— when she was little, she'd never minded this kind of thing— but reassured herself that she'd get along with the Reynolds' boy. After all, she happened to know that he was a ninja fan, too.

Finally the van slowed to a stop at the edge of the sidewalk behind a long line of already-parked cars. A warm glow through the windows and the sounds of chattering and glasses clinking together marked the house of the party, where Abby and her mother walked up and rang the doorbell.

"Now remember, be polite. And try to stop fidgeting with your dress." The woman wiped a smudge off her daughter's cheek as the door opened.

"Ah, so good to see you!" a man in semi-formal wear exclaimed, welcoming the two. "Come in, come in, ladies."

"Thank you very much, we're happy to be here. Is your son—"

"In his room down the hall to the left," Mr. Reynolds said quickly. "And I'm sure he'll be happy to meet you, little lady!" He flashed a friendly smile at Abby, who nervously smiled back.

"Go on over and introduce yourself, Abby," the woman instructed her daughter in a kind tone. "And try to be friendly."

* * *

Abby found the kid's room really fast because the door was covered in posters of the ninja, like hers. Impressed by the posters but determined not to get her hopes up about making friends with a _boy,_ she knocked on the door and then opened it a crack without waiting for an answer.

"Hi!" the Reynolds' son exclaimed. Abby pushed the door open further and her eyes widened.

The _entire room_ was covered in ninja gear from floor to ceiling. Posters like the ones on the door covered most of the lavender-painted walls, action figures were arranged neatly on the dresser, and even the bedspread was ninja-themed. Mixed in with all the ninja stuff were baskets of cloth, lots of books, and a few plastic dinosaurs (some of which were currently being ridden by the ninja action figures). In fact, it took Abby so long to absorb all that was in the room that she didn't even look at the boy himself until he wheeled himself up to her.

Wheeled.

He was in a wheelchair.

"You're Abby, right?" he asked eagerly. "My parents told me you were coming. Nice to meet you!" He held out his hand with a grin.

"Um… yeah," Abby said after a pause, "nice to meet you too." She shook the boy's hand and resolved to wash her hands as soon as she left.

"My name's Nelson," the boy said, backing himself up so Abby could come inside. "Sorry if my room's a little messy."

"No, it's… not," Abby said, still trying to take the situation in. Something about the boy seemed familiar, but she'd definitely never met him before. "Uh. You like the ninja?"

"Well, yea! Who doesn't?" he exclaimed. "I even made my own ninja mask!"

For the first time, Abby noticed the piece of purple fabric in Nelson's lap. A needle and thread rested on top of it.

"You can sew?"

"Well, yeah!" Nelson beamed. "The real ninja even said it was good!"

Suddenly, Abby snapped her fingers. " _That's_ where I know you from! You were that kid in the hospital who blocked us all out when we were trying to visit the ninja!"

"Yeah, I— wait, we?" Nelson frowned. "Were you one of those fangirls trying to see Kai?"

Abby felt a blush rise up to her cheeks. "Hey, _he_ posted the photo saying he was there!" she snapped. "Besides, he's not even my favorite ninja anymore. Nya is."

"Oh. My favorite's Lloyd," Nelson said, picking the project off his lap and continuing to stitch up the small tear that was now evident.

"Why Lloyd?" Abby asked. Lloyd was a lot of people's favorite because they said he was the strongest, even though he _obviously_ wasn't.

"He was really nice to me," Nelson replied, his brown eyes focused on the purple fabric.

"Oh," Abby said. There was an awkward silence for a few moments. "So… you really made that yourself?"

"Uh-huh," Nelson said. His voice dropped into a sort of shy mumble. "You have a lot of time on your hands when you're in a wheelchair…"

"O-oh, of course," Abby said. "It's just, I haven't ever met any other boys that can sew. But I think it's cool!" she added quickly.

"Thanks," Nelson said, a smile coming back to his face. "I get teased about it sometimes, but not a lot." He paused to knot the stitch and wheeled over to a pair of scissors on the dresser to cut above the knot. "So, what do you like to do?"

"I cook, like my mom," Abby said proudly. "And I do ninja moves! Sort of. I'm trying to teach myself. I wanna be a real ninja someday!"

"Cool!" Nelson said, flashing a smile. "You could be the pink ninja! Or something else." He held up his mask. "But not purple. I'm already purple."

"Pink is good," Abby replied cheerfully. "It's my favorite color."

"Purple's mine," Nelson said, pulling on his newly-fixed hood. "There! How does this look?"

Abby's eyes widened. "Awesome!" It really did look like a real ninja mask— she would never have guessed that a boy (or any kid her age) could make something so accurate.

"You wanna see some of my ninja moves?" Nelson asked. Abby wondered how exactly someone in a wheelchair could pull off ninja moves, but she didn't dare ask that out loud.

"Sure!"

As it turned out, someone in a wheelchair could pull off ninja moves _very_ well, even performing a spinning kick-like maneuver that was like Spinjitzu. They could also sew really well, talk ninja trivia, give really good book suggestions, and teach somebody else how to draw a dinosaur. (Abby gave hers a bow.)

Before it seemed like hardly any time had passed, there was a rapping at the door and Abby's mom was telling the kids that they'd better come out and have some cake before the adults at it all up.

"Do you know what kind the cake is?" Abby asked Nelson as she walked out to the living room.

"It's chocolate," he replied with a grin. "Dad was going to choose carrot cake when we went shopping, but I stopped him before it was too late."

"Oh, good," the black-haired girl snickered. "Carrot cake is nasty."

"It is," Nelson agreed. "Look, there it is! That's the one I chose."

In the midst of a small circle of adults was one of the prettiest-looking cakes Abby had ever seen. Chocolate flakes adorned the chocolate-frosted sides and _Happy Birthday Mollie_ was written in pink icing on the top. The M and O on the word "Mollie" were being cut out for the first slice.

"Whad'ya think?" Nelson asked.

"It looks delicious," Abby said, her mouth watering at the sight. "You have good taste."

In more than one thing, she thought to herself. Maybe not _all_ boys were gross.

She'd have to ask if she could hang out with him again in the future… just to be sure.

* * *

(Fun fact, in the original draft there was a bit of banter between Nelson's dad and Abby's mom and even though I cut it out they're still definitely really good adult platonic friends okay)


End file.
